Some time ago, developer Owlcat Games conducted an extensive survey for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Partaking allowed the team to gather player impressions on the closed alpha stage as well as suggestions on how to make the game better. A total of 521 people took part in the survey and gave the game the overall score of 4.35 out of 5.
Here are some highlights of the results, shared via Steam:
- 87% of players enjoyed the game’s grimdark tone. However, even some of those who have rated the atmosphere positively have felt that many areas were too shiny and bright and lacked the grim darkness of Warhammer 40,000;
- Some respondents also noted that certain areas lacked the overpopulation and crowdedness that the universe is known for;
- All companions were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based on overall impression, narrative, and usefulness in terms of gameplay. The top picks ended up being Argenta and Pasqal, with the only two companions falling short of the 4-point bar being Idira and Jae;
- Over 80% of the respondents found that they had no difficulties in terms of dialogue and terms;
- Among the most frequently voiced feedback were requests to make the font bigger, improve text legibility, and fix scrolling;
- When it comes to combat, over 35% of the respondents wished that loot had been more interesting; up to 40% of the respondents were dissatisfied one way or another with the speed and variety of character development; over a third of the players had difficulties reading interface icons and interpreting the contents of the combat log;
- Many players mentioned that they would like to see a pre-combat preparation phase that would allow to place your characters as they see fit;
- An interesting tidbit about enemy design: there was an undisputed leader for the title of the most memorable foe — the Daemon Engine, mentioned by nearly 1/3 of the respondents;
- When it comes to the warp, the leading encounter was the fight against Daemonettes of Slaanesh in the Rogue Trader’s personal quarters;
“Compared to other elements of the game, the alpha version of space was still very early in development, which, predictably, affected the score. Global map navigation and exploration were rated 4 out of 5, which isn’t half bad given their unfinished state.
Space battles were not as well-received (3.4/5). There were concerns about the visual quality, the balance (for instance, encounters against Drukhari ended up being too difficult and not particularly fun in their alpha state), the slow pace, and the steep learning curve. And even though there were some positive sentiments (the space combat UI, despite being an early draft, was still praised for its simplicity and clarity), it is apparent that we have our work cut out for us here.”
- Both sound and music in the game were pretty much unanimously well received;
- The cargo system received mostly positive reviews (over 60% said they enjoyed the system), but it still raised a number of questions;
- The colonization system is going to be revamped;
“That is it for now! Once again, we are so grateful to you for participating in our survey — your feedback has been a huge help and will allow us to make the game even better and more faithful to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Work on the Beta is well underway, and we can’t wait to show you the progress we’ve made!”
Check out the game’s Steam page to find out more.
